


Drowning

by Atominthewind



Series: The Wind's Fortune [2]
Category: The Wellerman Collab Crew, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Gen, pirate crew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29859918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atominthewind/pseuds/Atominthewind
Summary: Caleb had been through a storm or two during his time on board of the Wind’s Fortune, but nothing could have prepared him for this one, that threatens to cost the crew one of their own.
Series: The Wind's Fortune [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179125
Comments: 11
Kudos: 13





	1. We rise and fall

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhh boy, I really struggle with summaries.  
> Anyway, this takes place in the same universe as my last story and is again inspired by the Wellerman Collab on Caleb Hyles' youtube channel. 
> 
> Content Warning for this one: near drowning  
> Tell me if I need to warn for anything else :)

Caleb nearly doesn’t hear the scream over the screeching wind and the roaring of the ocean all around him, but even the cacophony surrounding him isn’t enough to drown out the panicked shout of “Man overboard!” that resonates from across the ship while he’s still catching his breath from the wave that just crashed over the Wind’s Fortune.

And to think that the day had started out as calm and pleasant. He’d woken up this morning rested and refreshed, now that he had finally become accustomed to the rocking of the ship at night after over a month of travel. He loved the life at sea, but it had taken him a while until he had managed to get his first night of full rest.

So he had woken up that morning and relieved Nate of his nightshift of steering and watching over the ship, who had then gone under deck to get some rest himself. An hour later the others had started coming out and getting to work themselves and Captain Jonathan had taken over the wheel so that Caleb could get to making the crew some breakfast.

The morning had continued in the same calm manner, until suddenly, just a couple of hours before midday, Nate had come running out from under the deck with a panicked expression on his face. When he declared that a storm was approaching, and fast, Caleb hadn’t believed him at first.

His unkept hair and squinting eyes made it clear that he had just woken up, so it wasn’t all that unlikely that he had had a nightmare and just hadn’t completely joined them in the world of the living yet. The sky had been clear and blue, so there seemed to be no reason to panic just yet.

Caleb had said that to the rest of the crew in a joking tone, but not only had no one joined in on his laughter, Jonathan had immediately started ordering them to tie themselves to the mast with a rope around their waist and to then bring in the sails and secure the cargo.

While everyone scuttled off to obey their captain’s orders, Anthony had taken pity on Caleb, who was still standing there with a confused look on his face. “That’s another rule here on the Wind’s Fortune,” he had said: “If Nathan says that there’s a storm coming, there’s a storm coming. We don’t know how he does it, but he has never been wrong yet.”

Then, after patting him on the back as encouragement to get moving, Anthony had left to join the others and Caleb had shook his hesitation off and gone to tie himself to the ship. He had seen Jonathan check each of their knots before he went to tie himself to the wheel.

True to Nate’s words only half an hour later the sky had considerably darkened and the heavy layer of dark clouds brewing over their head had just begun to unleash torrential rain while the wind and the waves had considerably picked up speed.

Caleb had been glad that he had been charged with the task of checking if everything under deck was secure. No matter how surefooted he was, looking up at Nate and Pellek climbing down from the last sail, he’s pretty sure that couldn’t have made that climb. Nate nearly slipped at one point and they were both clearly struggling to get back to (slightly more) solid ground. If Pellek, the local acrobat, was having trouble with the wind and the wet rope like that, then there wouldn’t have been any chance for Caleb.

After that, it didn’t take long for the sky to unleash its rage.

So here he is, and hour later, flailing about the ship and holding onto whatever he can grab in hopes of staying on his own two feet as the ship is continuously being knocked from one side to the other. The wind that’s lashing around brings a bitter cold with it, and his soaked clothes don’t help.

He thought that over the month that he had travelled on this ship he had gotten quite good at dealing with the ship’s constant movement, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

This wasn’t Caleb’s first storm, but none of the others had been this violent.

He squints his eyes against the rain and tries to spot his crewmates. Someone has just gone overboard and he has to help them, he just has to figure out where the scream had come from. It’s hard to see anything with the curtains of water falling down around him, but he can spot Anthony’s outline just a few feet to his right and a sudden flash of lightning highlights their captain’s figure, desperately trying to keep control of the ship up at the wheel.

That only left…

His eyes go to the mast to follow Nate’s and Pellek’s ropes. They both seem to go into the same direction to his right, but Pellek’s rope seems to be taut, stretched to its limit, like something is pulling on the other end. Like a body that was thrown off the ship. At least the knot is still holding he thinks as he prepares himself to move.

Not leaving himself time to hesitate, he uses his arms to launch himself off of whatever it is he’s leaning on, towards Pellek’s safety line. As soon as he has a good grip on the rope, he starts to follow it towards wherever Pellek should be.

After just a few steps he sees Nate’s shadow. It only takes a few more moments for Caleb to reach his friend, who is braced against the railing and using his entire strength to pull at the rope that is hanging down into the ocean. The moment Nate takes note of him he shouts, to be heard above the noise of the storm: “Pellek went overboard! Help me get him up, he won’t be able to get out of that water himself, not with these waves!”

Caleb doesn’t waste a single moment before he starts to imitate his friend and begins pulling. Just because the second mate doesn’t like him, doesn’t mean that he’ll just leave the guy to die.

He works his muscles to their limit in his and Nate’s effort to fight the ocean for the prey it was trying to claim.

He feels his entire body protest every time one of his hands reaches forward to reach for another inch of the rope, but with the two of them fighting together they slowly manage to haul Pellek’s line back on board inch by gruelling inch.

Then, suddenly, it all goes to hell (again).

Caleb isn’t completely sure what happens, but just as he thinks he sees dark fabric breaking out of the water, another wave comes crashing against the hull of the ship, followed by a startled yelp next to him.

Next thing he knows, Nate’s grip on the rope is gone and it jerks forward back towards the water. He feels his feet slip over the wooden planks of the deck as his stomach collides with the railing. He let’s go of Pellek’s line, but it’s already too late, as his entire world turns upside down and gravity pulls him towards the sea.

The freezing waves crash over him, violently swirling him around. He can’t tell where up and down is as his back collides with the hard hull of the ship before he’s promptly jerked into another direction again.

His rope pulls taut and stops him from being carried away, but he’s barely able to feel the burning around his waist over the numbness in his limbs induced by the cold water. Another impact against the side of the ship makes him scream out in pain, robbing him of the last of his air.

He tries grabbing onto something, anything, but if his fingers skim anything in the darkness around him, he can’t feel it, much less grab onto it.

He doesn’t know if time is slowing down or if he’s just becoming more sluggish, but either way it can’t be a good sign.

Suddenly, the noise around him amplifies and the wind slaps him in the face. He instinctively inhales and it’s still more water then air as yet another wave comes crashing into him, but the sweet relief of breathing makes the painful coughing worth it.

In his disoriented state and with the unrest of the ocean it takes him a while to notice that he didn’t just break through to the surface, he’s slowly being lifted higher and higher out of the sea. Above the clap of thunder and the hammering rain he thinks that he hears a voice call out to him: “C’mon Caleb, move, get it together, boy!”

He lifts his head and sees the slowly approaching railing and he throws his hand upwards in and effort to _reach out_ , to _hold_ , to _touch_. His hands slip off the rope and the slick wood once, twice before his third attempt is met with another cold hand clasping onto his and hauling him back onto safer ground.

The moment his feet meet the deck, he crumbles onto his knees. He doesn’t know if the shaking is born from fear, from cold or from the dreadful knowledge of what just now nearly happened to him, but he has to hold back the sobs that threaten to come out.

He can’t afford to fall apart now; his friends still need him.

He braces his hands on the deck to push himself back up to a standing position, but even with all his determination he still stumbles once he gets his two feet under him.

A hand lands on his arm to steady him and he looks up into Anthony’s worried brown eyes. He must have been the one who pulled him back on board.

At that thought his eyes shoot back towards Pellek’s line, hoping to see his crewmate standing there as well, but all that greets him is the sight of the rope, still dangling over the railing down over the sea. He starts towards the rope, but after his first unsteady step, it clicks.

Why Pellek’s not on board.

The rope is still hanging into the ocean, but it isn’t strained like it was just a few moments ago, there is no tension on it anymore. There’s only one explanation for this.

There isn’t anyone on the other end of that line anymore. It must have snapped.

His stumbling becomes desperate as he picks up speed and starts to rush towards where the rope goes over the railing to plummet towards the water, murmuring a steady stream of “no, no, no, No, NO!” under his breath, but before he can get too far Anthony’s grip on his arm tightens.

Why is he stopping him? They can still save him! He has to be close to the ship, or maybe it’s just a trick of the light and Pellek’s still attached at the other end.

But as Caleb whirls around to protest, he sees the grief in Anthony’s eyes and every word that he was going to scream in the mans face dies in his throat.

“There’s nothing we can do for him anymore Caleb.” Even though Anthony has to shout these words to be heard over the raging winds, the sadness carried in them comes across loud and clean.

Anthony means it.

Caleb still tries to turn back around towards the railing, but Anthony forcefully grips his shoulders and turns him back and looks in his eyes: “Look Caleb, I hate this too, but you can’t do anything to help him now, so please, we need your help now so we don’t lose anyone else!”

As he says these words, Anthony gestures back towards a figure sprawled across the ground a few steps behind him: “I’ll help the captain out here, bring Nathan inside before the next waves throws him into the seas too. And stay with him!”

Caleb wants to protest, wants to insist that he can still help, but he knows that someone needs to bring Nate inside and he knows that with the state he’s in, between Anthony and himself the former will do a lot more good outside then he will, so he nods once before he goes over to the crumpled form of his best friend.

Once he’s reached his sides he falls down on his knees and slides his arms under Nate’s shoulder. Normally, he’d just carry him. Nate’s not the heaviest and years of hard work have given Caleb his fair share of strength, but he’s not delusional.

He knows that in his weakened state his chances of getting his friend across a ship that’s still rocking from one side to the other without it ending with them both on the ground are minimal, and he still doesn’t know why Nate’s unconscious in the first place. He really can’t risk making whatever it is worse by reintroducing him to the ground.

So, dragging him by the shoulders it is. It’s not like Nate is awake to complain about it.

It feels like hours pass until he finally collides back first with the wall of the captain’s cabin, he’s never been so relieved in his entire life to run into something. He has to fights a battle with the wind just to keep the door open long enough to get both himself and Nate inside, but soon enough they’re inside, away from the whipping rain and the biting cold.

It’s still just as loud in here as it is outside and since none of the candles are lit, it’s even harder to see anything, but Caleb still manages to find a path to the small cot in the corner of the room.

Normally he wouldn’t touch the captain’s stuff, but he’d rather face Jonathan’s wrath than leave Nate somewhere on the floor and he’s quite sure that the man won’t mind. He still doesn’t know what’s actually wrong with his friend, but he doesn’t see any injuries.

Then again, Nate could probably be bleeding out from a stab wound right now and he wouldn’t see it with all that damn darkness surrounding him.

The darkness that surrounds him and threatens to crush him. The darkness that pulls him back under the water where he cans see, or breathe, or feel, or…

Caleb shakes his head to try to get rid of these thoughts, but everything he’s just been through finally crushes down on him and the fragile pillars that were holding back his thoughts come crumbling down.

He nearly _died_! Pellek is probably _dead already_ , drowned or thrown against rocks repeatedly till there isn’t a single unbroken bone in his body left. He falls down on his knees in front of the cot and pulls Nate closer to himself. A reminder that _someone’s_ still alive. That he’s not completely alone.

But Anthony and Jonathan are still out there.

He finally releases the tears that he had been holding back ever since he got back on board as he buries his face in Nate’s hair.

It’s not worth holding them back anymore. No one will hear him sob over the noise of the storm outside anyway.


	2. Let your life drain out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally going to only be two chapters long (that's a lie, the original idea was a oneshot) but it just keeps on getting longer and longer for whatever reason.  
> Also, the first story in the series just passed 100 hits, so thank you all for your continued support, your kudos and especially your nice comments. It really means a lot for me :)

The first thing that Caleb registers is the silence. The waves have quieted down to a low murmur in the background and there is a stillness permeating the air. A warmth is spreading across his back, like the sun is shining down on him through a window. That’s weird, their sleeping quarters didn’t have any windows, and he’d probably remember if anyone had blown a hole into the ship's hull recently. But why should it matter where he is. He’s warm and comfortable and happy and opening his eyes to figure his current location out just doesn’t seem worth it.

He feels like he’s forgetting something though.

And just like that, it all comes flooding back to him. The storm, his trip into the sea, Pellek! His eyes instantly shoot open as he struggles to sit upright, but the sunlight that floods his senses makes him pinch them shut once more with a groan. He hears some movement somewhere to his right.

“Caleb? Are you awake?” Nate’s voice is quiet and ever so slightly pained. Why does he sound pained? It takes Caleb a while to remember with the way his brain is muddled from the pain and _something_ , but the last time he saw his friend he was still unconscious. He nods to answer the question, but the nausea that instantly follows the motion is nearly enough to make him regret it.

Suddenly, there’s what he can only assume is a bucket shoved into his hands and a voice, Anthony he thinks, tells him: “You swallowed quite a bit of sea water. It’s normal to get sick from all that.”

Funny, he hadn’t even noticed the man’s presence up until now. A few more moments pass, and Caleb somehow manages to hold himself back from hurling. He slowly – _very_ slowly – tries to crack his eyes open again.

It goes a bit better, and he manages to keep his eyes open this time, but his vision is still incredibly blurry. He sees an unidentifiable multicoloured blob moving out of the corner of his eyes and it takes him a while to associate the deep blue and the golden glimmer with Nate.

Caleb closes his eyes in an effort to ground himself and for the first time since he woke up, he realizes that his fingers are curled into the soft surface he’s sitting on. This, combined with the sun that was shining on him earlier and what had happened to them yesterday, leads him to the conclusion that he’s probably in the small curtained-off part of the captain’s cabin that they had repurposed into Anthony’s medical corner.

When he finally opens his eyes again his vision has cleared up enough to confirm his hunch. He’s sitting on the old cot behind the dark green curtain, his legs still half tangled in the cover. Nate is sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed on top of the blanked, hunched over and conspicuously avoiding his eyes. Anthony is standing in front of his friend, winding a bandage tightly around his forehead. The bloodied bandage crumpled up next to them indicates that this isn’t the first time Nate got this treatment.

Just how long had he been out?

He goes to ask that, but he can’t manage more than a pathetic amalgamation of throaty sound and whimpers, and even those are painful to produce. “Hold on, I’ll finish with Nathan and then I’ll go and get you some water,” as Anthony says that he ties the bandage off and leans back and turns to leave, but Nate is faster than him: “I’ll go get some. That way you’ll be able to check him over.” Their resident doctor/carpenter looks on with watchful eyes as Nates stands up and turns around leaves, presumably judging if he’s actually fit to go.

Nate makes it to through the curtains and to the door well enough to Anthony’s satisfaction apparently, as he doesn’t protest his departure, instead he turns around to start examining Caleb.

“So, we just saw that you’re not up to talking just yet. Are you well enough to nod and shake your head?” Anthony asks as he reaches forward to deposit his hand on Caleb’s forehead. Caleb nods once. “Well then, we’ll make this work. Are you still feeling sick or dizzy?” A short nod. “But has it gotten better since you woke up?” Another nod. “Are you hurt anywhere, outside of bruises? I checked you over for any obvious injuries, but I might have missed something.” Even though he hasn’t moved much yet, he can already feel that his muscles are sore, and the bruises sure don’t help. However, that’s only natural, and the pain would fade over time, so he shakes his head.

Anthony leans back and looks him over. “You seem well enough to me. Some water and a bit more sleep and you’ll be good to go. Though I’d prefer if you take it easy for the next week or so.”

As if on cue Nate comes back in, carrying a wooden pitcher and a cup. The water is lukewarm and slightly stale, but as it rushes down Caleb’s throat, he could swear that he’s never drank anything that refreshing in his entire life. As he’s finishing off the last of his drinks a cheerful, scratchy voice cuts through the silence: “Down with it boyo! Down with it boyo!” He opens his eyes again to see that his parrot, Rye, had flown in after Nate and settled on his friend’s shoulder. He stretches his hand forward and the bird takes the invitation to fly over. “Hey there, buddy.” His voice is still raspy but at least the drink had somewhat helped him to regain the ability to talk again. He starts scratching his parrot’s head and allows himself to relax as he takes another sip out of the cup.

Nate is the one that ends up disturbing the peace and quiet that settled around them. With a pointed look in Anthony’s direction, he starts to talk: “Anyways, I’m going to go help our _captain_ , who is manning the ship _all alone_.” As he stands up, Anthony reaches out to catch his arm and hold him back from leaving. “We talked about this Nathan; I don’t want you out working in the sun just yet!” “And I told you that I’m not letting Jonathan do all the work by himself!” He tries to glare their doctor into letting him go, but his anger melts away when he notices it’s not working. “Look, I’ll stay away from the rigging and I’ll take plenty of breaks, but I’ll go crazy if I spend one more minute just sitting here.”

Anthony stares at Nate for what feels like way too long before he finally relents: “Okay, fine. I’ll let you go, but only under the condition that the moment you start feeling worse again, you come to me. Is that clear?” “Crystal!” The look on relief on Nate’s face as he leaves is hard to miss.

“So, what was that about? Why didn’t you want him to work?” So maybe Caleb is curious, it’s not like anyone has taken the time to fill him in on anything, and since he had gotten his ability to ask back, he might as well use it. “From what we gathered, Nathan lost his balance and slipped when one of the big waves crashed into the boat. He hit his head on the railing pretty hard. He’ll be fine but he got quite a concussion.”

The quiet settles back around them, but Caleb knows that he’ll break it again soon. There is still a question that he has yet to ask and he knows that that question would open the gates for a whole flood of emotions.

Might as well make it quick: “Nate said the captain was all alone. So Pellek…” He doesn’t really know how to finish his sentence, but Anthony seems to understand anyway if the way his face falls is of any indication. “Pellek… when you fell over the railing and let go of the rope… his line snapped. He was gone long before I even reached you.” Anthony seemed to struggle to even say it, and Caleb could easily see why. To say it was to acknowledge it happened in the first place.

“Is there any chance that he’s still… that he didn’t…” Dammit, he just couldn’t force the rest of his sentence from where it sat fully formed in his brain out of his mouth. “There’s a lot of islands around here, so it’s not impossible that he might have washed up on a shore somewhere, but with the way the current was going, I wouldn’t count on it.”

Caleb lets his head hang down. If only he had worked just a little harder, been a little stronger, pulled on that rope a little faster then Pellek would still be here. It wasn’t fair that he had been saved where the first mate was torn away by the ocean.

Suddenly, a hand came down on his shoulder, tearing him away from his spiralling thoughts: “Oh no, you’re not doing this Caleb. I know that face. That’s the I’m blaming myself face. I’ve had to deal with it for the last day already. You’re not joining Nathan in his little self-blame party.” “But if I had braced myself against the railing I wouldn’t have had to let go of the rope! Can’t you see? If I had just been a bit stronger, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” He tried to explain his thoughts to his older crewmate, but Anthony wasn’t having any of it.

“No, you couldn’t have predicted Nathan losing his grip on the rope any more than Nathan could have predicted the wave that knocked him over in the first place. This had nothing to do with you or him and everything to do with the storm!” Caleb turned away, still not entirely convinced that he really wasn’t at fault. Anthony just sights: “Look, Caleb. You need to understand, the sea is a wild thing, and she doesn’t listen to anyone. Neither of you can be blamed for what happened. I know you might not believe me, but at least try to think like that for me?”

Caleb finally looks up into Anthony’s dark brown eyes and he can read the sadness and the worry swimming in them. He gives him one short nod. “I’ll try.”

Anthony breathes a sigh of relief and pats Caleb’s shoulder before he retracts his hand. “Try to get some more sleep, I’ll go check if they need any help on deck. _Don’t do anything stupid_.” He turns around and leaves, shooting a last - mostly joking - warning glare in Caleb’s direction before the door shuts behind him.

Caleb settles back and he can practically hear his sore muscles sigh in relief as he finally allows himself to relax under the covers. But even then, sleep still stubbornly evades him. It’s not that he’s not tired. He is, and he can barely manage to hold back the yawns that try to escape every few minutes.

But even with Anthony’s reassuring word his thoughts are still spiralling, not shutting up long enough for him to fall asleep. He takes a deep breath and tries to find his way back to a calmer state of mind. He feels the weight of the blanket on top of him, the softness of the bed under him and the warmth of the sun that’s still shining through the window next to him. He focuses on Anthony’s laughter outside, on the calm waves and finally on the flapping of wings as Rye flies over to settle on his chest. He reassures himself that he hadn’t been completely useless out there. If he hadn’t brought Nate inside when he did, his friend probably would have drowned. Soon, he’s calmed down enough to finally feel the heaviness of sleep pull him under.

He knows that he’s going to continue blaming himself for Pellek’s disappearance, but at least there’s the tiniest bit of hope that he can latch onto, and that’s an art that he’s perfected over the last few years.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, as always tips and constructive critisism are always welcome.  
> I'm happy about every comment I get :)


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